


Firefly

by tanyasm10



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Drow, Elves, F/M, Kidge - Freeform, Lotunk - Freeform, M/M, everyone is older because older Hunk is a snacc, god is a woman because yes, past Heith, shallura - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-15 02:17:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16924653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tanyasm10/pseuds/tanyasm10
Summary: The brink of a Galra invasion is not exactly the prime time to fall for the new Royal Inventor, but that seems to be exactly what's happening to Chief Advisor Lotor





	Firefly

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! The world seems to be lacking in the Lotunk department so here you go!
> 
> In this universe, Shiro is bi because that's my headcanon. The only reason Adam doesn't exist here is because I started writing this before season 6 even came out. Ya, a lot has happened since then.
> 
> Please enjoy!

There were very many things that worried Queen Allura. Like whether the pixies would get into the summer harvest and leave her small kingdom hungry for the year. Whether the dark wolves would somehow get past her Chief Warlock’s wards and steal the children one by one. Or even whether the livestock would be stolen by dragons in the dead of night. However, Lotor could see that all those things were nothing compared to whatever matter she’d called him and Shiro to meet about today. When he’d entered, her long elven ears were downcast and her eyebrows furrowed as she paced their meeting room.

When he announced their arrival, she looked up, her blue eyes lacking their mirthful twinkle. Under them, bags were forming and her hair was just a tad dishevelled, probably from her running her dainty hands through it. Lotor could already guess what got her so hung up. It was something that had been a more than small problem for them since the previous summer.

Her holding up a letter in slashed writing only confirmed it.

“Coran just brought this to me,” she said. Her voice sounded tired, as though she was already defeated. “They didn’t want to meet for talks. At all.”

Shiro, ever the loving husband, was at her side in almost an instant, embracing her. He whispered in her ear and though Lotor couldn’t hear the words exactly, the soothing tones wafted through the air. The scene was so intimate that he wanted to look away but couldn’t bring himself to do so.

When she’d calmed down a little, they separated. Allura sniffled – she hardly did since it showed extreme weakness – but then took a deep breath to compose herself. Lotor waited.

“The Galra refuse to reach a peace with us,” she said once more. “They want our land, as you two are well aware. Since last summer they’ve been an ever-growing problem. Our kingdom is small and before now we’ve never had any need of an army so we don’t have one, but because of this we’ll be easily overpowered.”

“Are you sure we can’t ask Keith to strengthen our wards?”

“You can’t ward against elves, Shiro.” She said this fondly, as though reminding him. “Drow included.”

Shiro muttered something under his breath that Lotor couldn’t quite catch.

“Is there nothing you can do, Lotor?”

Surprised that all attention was now on him, Lotor looked up. “A half drow? They’d kill me the moment I stepped foot into there. I’m comfortable only being mildly ostracised instead of dead, thank you.”

Allura opened her mouth as if to apologise but Lotor beat her to it. “That was unbecoming of me. I’m sorry.”

“No, no, you’re right. We’d be sending a lamb into slaughter if you went,” Shiro said.

“Only, in this case the lamb would know and probably think of a way out.” Allura’s voice held a joking tone and Lotor couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You know me too well.”

“Still, these are troubling times. I don’t want the kingdom to panic. They already know about the Galra, but they don’t know the lengths they’re willing to go.”

“Ignorance is bliss,” Shiro intoned. “The Guard hasn’t noticed anything suspicious as of late…”

“But you can’t tell whether that’s a good or a bad thing?” Lotor finished for him. “I don’t blame you, the Galra are as cunning as they are rueful. They wouldn’t make a move so soon.”

“We should evacuate,” Allura said suddenly. “Just…leave.”

“What, and let them win?” Shiro asked. “Allura, this kingdom may be small but it’s been around for centuries. We’re all tied to it, and it would take a lot to have people leave willingly.”

“And even if we were to leave, where to? There’s a mountain in front of us very few can climb, especially since we only have twenty or so horses to assist us. East of here is dragon and dwarf country and they’re not very likely to welcome us.”

“We go west,” she said, “follow the river.”

“To who knows where? Our entire livelihood is here.”

Allura sighed and sat down on a chair. Light filtered through the large windows and it gave her an almost ethereal glow. It was no wonder Shiro fell in love with her, Lotor thought. She had boundless grace and beauty as an elf, but she had a heart with so much compassion and love that it was almost a problem. She cared so deeply about her kingdom, especially after the death of her father who was an incredible king. He’d left behind incredibly large boots for her to fill with her dainty feet.

Lotor knew she was straining under the weight of this responsibility. She’d been thrust into it too early, her father having died protecting the kingdom from dark wolves well before his time. He knew this since she confided in him regularly – it was only natural since they grew up together within the castle. His mother before him had been Alfor’s advisor and it seemed only natural that he took over the role once Allura became queen.

“Of course we can’t run away,” she said softly now. Her hand was pressed against her temple. “All Mother above, I must seem a coward to you.”

“Of course not, love,” Shiro said. “We know you’re just trying to keep your people safe.”

“I don’t want us to be forced to fight if we can help it,” Allura said. “We’re farmers, inventors and wizards not warriors. Except you.”

“And Lance,” he pointed out. “He’s shaping up to be a good protégée. He’s exceeding all expectations.”

Allura chuckled. “No doubt because he has a good teacher.” She paused and sighed. “I’m still not sure what to do about this situation.”

“Sleep on it,” Lotor advised. Allura gave him a look and he pressed. “No, listen to me _sleep on it._ They’re not posing an immediate threat as far as I’ve gathered, not to mention you look a mess. Shiro, go with her because I know if I leave her alone she’ll start pacing again and then she’ll never get the rest she needs.”

“Lotor, I can’t possibly—”

“You asked me to be your advisor, did you not? Well this is me advising you, Lulu, go and sleep.”

She smiled softly at the old nickname. He knew she would since he hardly called her that anymore. She stood up from her chair, but before she could even do anything she was swept up in Shiro’s arms.

“Sh-Shiro! This is uncalled for!” Her dark skin didn’t show it but Lotor knew she was probably blushing furiously by now.

“Maybe, but you need the rest. Our quarters are pretty far from here.”

“What would the servants think?”

“You’re their queen, and they love you,” Shiro said, scoffing. “Just stop thinking so much would you?”

She frowned but acquiesced, putting her head in the crook of his neck and closing her eyes. Shiro smiled down at her when she wasn’t looking and then mouthed a ‘thank you’ to Lotor who only shrugged. He’d done it for the both of them, if he was being honest. They hardly spent time together these days outside of the meeting room and if they could steal a few hours in the afternoon together then it was worth it.

They left the room and Lotor followed suit, closing the large doors behind him. He’d done it as softly as possible but they were so large and the hallway so empty that the sound reverberated around him. His brisk footsteps did the same as he walked down the marble halls.

Just like the meeting room, light flooded through them since there were windows on either side. Alteans loved their natural light, and this was shown with the beautiful architecture of the castle. The windows were magically reinforced to make them as strong as the brick that the castle itself. When you walked through the halls, it was like you were floating. Unless you had something to weigh you down like, say, the fact that a Galran invasion is very likely.

Indeed, Allura had every right to feel the way she did. She was correct about one thing – Alteans were inventors and wizards and farmers. They were creators, not warriors. What could they possibly do against an impending Galran invasion?

Lotor took a left to cross the juniberry garden but as soon as he did he crashed into someone else and fell to the ground.

A chaotic parade of papers cascaded down around them. It was completely uncharacteristic of Lotor to be so out of the loop as well as he usually had a good grasp of his surroundings. But this big oaf had blindsided him—

“All Mother above, I’m so sorry,” a voice said.

Lotor looked up to see large, dark skinned man with goggles obscuring his eyes hurriedly picking up the parchments and scrolls from the floor. He paused to hold out a gloved hand to help Lotor sit up in place.

“I’m usually not this clumsy,” he stated. He had a vague innocence in his voice, a childlike wonder. “It’s just that I’m in a hurry and Pidge is waiting for me up at the workshop and, ah man these are all mixed up now.”

Lotor bent to help him pick up the papers. They were schematics of some sort. He couldn’t figure them out since the writing was a messy scrawl.

“Pidge is gonna kill me for being so late too,” he muttered under his breath as he carried on picking up what’s left. “God this is so cliché, don’t you…think?”

Finally he looked at Lotor fully, well at least Lotor assumed he did. He couldn’t tell behind the goggles. He was grabbing the parchment that the advisor was handing to him when he took a good look at him.

As though realising something, the stranger re-placed the goggles atop his head with his free hand. That was the first time Lotor saw his eyes and immediately he fell.

They were a warm brown, friendly and inviting, as though asking someone out for a cup of coffee. And they were so large and inquisitive too, like they wanted to take in all the information they possibly could at once.

Those were an inventor’s eyes.

“I’m Hunk Garrett,” he said after a beat, holding out his free hand.

 _You’re kidding_ , Lotor thought as he looked at him. His name couldn’t _possibly_ be-

“Well, Tsuyoshi, but nobody calls me that except Ma when she’s _really_ angry,” he quickly corrected.

“I’m Lotor,” was the response. Good, his voice sounded dignified and didn’t crack one bit. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Hunk’s eyebrows shot up when Lotor grasped his hand. “Queen Allura’s advisor? Ah man, this isn’t a good impression to make within the first month.”

“No, no, please I wasn’t looking where I was going.” For some reason Lotor couldn’t stand the idea of Hunk blaming himself. “I should’ve paid attention.”

“I was running,” Hunk said in response. “I really shouldn’t have. I’m sorry for knocking you over. I mean, I’m a pretty big guy.”

And he _was_ pretty big. He was probably double the width of Lotor himself with arms like branches and powerful looking hands even when obscured by his rubber gloves. He was shorter than Lotor, which was to be expected since he was human, but he still looked like he could carry and throw him like it was nothing. There was a massive strength beneath his gentleness.

“Well, apology accepted,” Lotor replied, and Hunk beamed. It was like he outshone the brightest of fireflies that graced Altea during the dusk. The advisor could feel himself getting warm under his gaze and looked away promptly as he cleared his throat. “I must get going. Duty calls.”

“Right. You’re a busy guy after all.” Hunk adjusted the papers in his grasp so they lay evenly spaced in his two large arms. “It was nice meeting you, Chief Advisor.”

“Likewise,” Lotor replied.

They went their separate ways, but Lotor made sure he was well out of Hunk’s eyeshot before he broke into a brisk walk to his quarters on the other side of the grounds and slammed the door behind him.

He’d lied about needing to be somewhere else. He just needed to make a quick getaway before he said something stupid and made a fool out of himself.

Allura _had_ mentioned hiring a new royal inventor to occupy the dusty workshop at the top of one of the two towers. Lotor just didn’t pay it much mind at the time since he didn’t think it would affect his livelihood too much, but boy did it ever. The man had steamrolled into his life without any warning and made a lasting impression. The five minute talk felt like a lifetime, and Lotor couldn’t remember ever feeling so winded in his time alive, even despite the fall.

“Mere infatuation,” he muttered, trying to snap himself out of it – whatever _it_ was. “I just need some rest and tea. Yes, that’ll do nicely.”

He couldn’t help but think of Allura admonishingly telling him that he was treating himself like he had a cold, but he shook himself off. This feeling would pass. It was flimsy after all, he just needed to not get attached.

 


End file.
